Story of Ori

Young talent leads an old firm into the future

Every day on the job is a family reunion for Jamison, Jason, Jona and Lynsey Ori.

The siblings are the owners of Rosebrook Custom Inground Pools in Libertyville, Ill. They oversee more than 65 employees, about 16 of whom are relatives.

Must be something in the gene pool.

They took over from their father, Joe, who took over from his father, Amedeo. The result is that, today, one of the Midwest’s oldest pool firms is driven by youthful ambition.

Jamison, 35, describes how his approach to business differs from his father’s: “I’m much more aggressive. I take a lot more chances, whereas he was more conservative.” That isn’t to say Jamison, who serves as company co-president, is being reckless. Rather, he’s leading the firm in mastering some daring designs that, he says, many builders won’t attempt.

Rosebrook Pools, named after Amedeo’s business partner Phil Rosebrook, is noted for crafting custom freeform pools with automatic covers. It’s a difficult design detail that allows the use of a rectangular cover without obscuring a pool’s more complex shape. The cover moves on linear tracks hidden below the deck.

“We’re really pushing the edge as far as design work goes,” says Jason, 40, vice president. Their boundary-pushing projects have earned them multiple industry awards and recognition by Pool & Spa News, which ranked the firm No. 8 among this year’s Top 50 Builders.

Today, Rosebrook is averaging about 50 pools a year, with residential construction revenue totaling more than $6.5 million.

When the Oris were kids, their father’s profession presented opportunities to hobnob with Chicago’s elite. Among Joe Ori’s influential clients: business magnate Jay Pritzker, co-founder of the Hyatt hotel chain, and uncle to United States Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. “There was a whole different world we weren’t aware of growing up that we got to see through all the clients and projects,” Jamison says.

Jamison and Lynsey pursued other interests — he played competitive hockey after high school and she studied culinary arts — but they would all find themselves back in the family business, where each has a defined role. Jamison, who has a gold designation from Genesis 3 Design Group, specializes in design and sales; Jason runs the maintenance division with their mother, Lynn; Jona, 39, is co-president and oversees construction; and Lynsey, 34, serves as chief operating officer.

“We hold our family members to a higher standard than we do the rest of the staff,” Jamison says. “So it creates a very competitive, yet fun, way of going through your work day.”